A multicenter family practitioners' research on the prevalence of obesity and hypertension

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Hypertension and obesity threaten public health. Our aim was to study the prevalence of obesity and hypertension in our community and their relation to feeding habits.MATERIAL and METHODS: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study and it was performed in the period of January 2014 - January 2015. A total of 1013 people living in the city center participated in the study. Relationships between body mass index values, blood pressure values, and feeding habits were analyzed.RESULTS: In this sampling, the prevalence of obesity was 27.30%, and the prevalence of hypertension was 28.13%. Among patients with hypertension, 99 patients were newly diagnosed asymptomatic cases. Blood pressure control rate was 48.90% in patients with a history of hypertension.CONCLUSION: The relationship between obesity and hypertension is apparent. The control rate of hypertension was high but not satisfactory. There are still a large number of undiagnosed patients with hypertension in the community. Family physicians may begin to deal with this struggle by increasing awareness of these conditions.